It is conventional practice to subdivide large open areas into smaller work spaces or offices by erecting upright walls constructed from a plurality of prefabricated upright wall panels which are horizontally serially joined in aligned or angled relationship to define the desired wall structure. While the prefabricated wall panels are sometimes of short height so as to project upwardly from the floor through significantly less than floor-to-ceiling height, nevertheless in many instances the need is to define work spaces or offices which provide greater privacy, or closure along hallways and the like, thereby requiring prefabricated wall panels which are of floor-to-ceiling height. Walls employing full height prefabricated wall panels, however, present greater difficulty with respect to installation and securement of the upright prefabricated panels, particularly with respect to the ceiling.
Typically, when installing a full-height wall defined by prefabricated wall panels, the ceiling, which is often a drop-type ceiling of conventional construction, is provided with a track structure secured thereto. This track structure, frequently in the form of a shallow downwardly-opening channel, is positioned to create an overlapping engagement with an upper structure associated with the prefabricated upright wall panel so as to provide lateral stability and hence maintain the panel in the desired upright relationship. The attachment structure associated with the upright wall panel, and its cooperation with a track structure attached to the ceiling, however, has often created structural and installation complexities.
In some known arrangements, attaching the upper edge of the prefabricated full-height panel to the ceiling involves what is referred to as a “scoop in” attachment process. In this regard, as the panel is tilted upwardly into an upright position, which tilting occurs in a sideward direction with respect to the panel, the upper edge of the panel must be guided upwardly into a downwardly opening ceiling track as the lower edge of the panel is sidewardly displaced into its desired floor location. Since the panel is typically of greater height than the clearance below the ceiling track, this installation technique typically results in slight upward lifting of the track and the attached drop ceiling until such point as the upper edge of the panel is properly engaged within the track and the panel is disposed substantially in its desired upright position, at which time the ceiling and attached track drop down so as to restore its original position while at the same time creating a lateral retention between the ceiling track and the upper edge of the panel. This installation process can be difficult to carry out, and more significantly is considered undesirable due to the necessity of creating localized upward lifting of the drop ceiling.
To avoid the “scoop in” attachment technique as briefly described above, other full-height prefabricated wall panels have been provided with separate attachment members associated with the upper edge thereof, such as upwardly slidable plates or swinging arms which must be manually released, after the panel has been positioned in an upright position below the track, so that the plates or arms move upwardly into the track to provide lateral restraint along the upper edge of panel. These arrangements, however, are generally difficult to install in that they require one or more installers to effect manual release or movement of the sliding plate or arms, which are typically provided adjacent opposite upper corners of the panel, in order to permit engagement with the ceiling track adjacent opposite upper corners of the panel.
In addition, panel constructions of this latter type are typically provided with removable trim strips which attach to upper edges of the panel and which extend therealong so as to reduce the clearance gap which exists between the upper edge of the panel and the ceiling, both visually and acoustically. The trim strips, however, cannot both be attached prior to the panel being pivoted upwardly into its upright position since they interfere with access to the attachment structure. Hence, at least one of the trim strips must be manually attached to the upper edge of the panel after the panel has been disposed in its upright position and attached to the ceiling. This further complicates the installation of the wall system.
In many of the known prefabricated full-height wall panel constructions of the aforementioned type, the wall panel is provided with a horizontally-elongated header associated with the upper edge of the panel. This header, during installation, is moved upwardly to create an engagement with a guide track which is fixed to the ceiling. In many of the known constructions, the elongate header is supported on elongate struts which connect to the header adjacent opposite ends, and which protrude downwardly for telescopic support within the frame of the wall panel. These struts frequently telescope downwardly for engagement with the upright edge rails of the panel frame. While these constructions do permit the header to be raised and lowered so as to perform the desired function, nevertheless these constructions unnecessarily and undesirably complicate the overall structure of the panel. In addition, access to the struts during installation of the panel, particularly since such panels must also be joined edge-to-edge during the installation process, is made more difficult. Some of these arrangements attempt to simplify the problem of accessing the struts by utilizing springs which urge the header upwardly, but this itself creates additional problems with respect to release of the springs and upward urging of the header only when the panel is disposed in precise alignment below the ceiling track. These general arrangements hence have failed to provide desired structural and operational simplicity coupled with minimization of manufacturing costs.
Examples of known constructions which relate generally to prefabricated wall panels having a movable top header associated therewith are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,967,420, 4,086,734, 4,434,596, 4,667,450, 5,159,793, 5,377,467, 5,524,402, 6,047,508, 6,115,978, 6,122,871, 6,634,149, 7,093,398.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved header arrangement for cooperation between a ceiling and an upper edge of a prefabricated full-height wall panel so as to provide simplified installation and improved appearance and improved sealing cooperation with the ceiling, thereby overcoming various disadvantages associated with most previously provided constructions.
More specifically, this invention relates to an improved header arrangement which cooperates between a ceiling and an upper edge of a prefabricated upright panel, which header arrangement provides a low profile while at the same time permits the prefabricated panel to be vertically sidewardly tilted into position below a preinstalled ceiling track so as to permit cooperation therewith without requiring a “scoop in” connection technique, whereby the improved arrangement permits utilization of small or minimal clearances so as to minimize the required space for such arrangement along the top of the panel, while at the same time facilitating and minimizing the installation technique for attaching the upper edge of the panel to the preinstalled ceiling track, including permitting the ceiling trims as attached to upper edges of the panel to be mounted on the panel prior to upward swinging of the panel into its desired installed position.